


New Day

by Missy



Category: Little Women (1994)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Marriage Proposal, Mid-Canon, New York City, Romance, visits
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-14
Updated: 2020-12-14
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:47:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28059417
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Missy/pseuds/Missy
Summary: Laurie comes to visit Jo in New York City.Much has changed in just a few months, but perhaps there's a new ending at the center of their separation.
Relationships: Theodore Laurence/Josephine March
Comments: 4
Kudos: 30
Collections: Yuletide Madness 2020





	New Day

**Author's Note:**

  * For [tabacoychanel](https://archiveofourown.org/users/tabacoychanel/gifts).



It’s just past tea time when he arrives, shaking his umbrella, careful with the hall carpet and fondly calling up the stairs. “Jo! I saw you at the window!”

“Teddy!” Jo’s eyes light up. She takes the stairs, two at a time, as she runs down to meet him. In spite of her rejection – in spite of the distance between them – she still couldn’t help but light up when he was in the room with her.

“But you’re thriving, Jo!” Teddy said, admiring her, watching Jo smooth down her skirt.

“I’ve been at work sharpening my brain,” she said. “I’ve been writing.”

“Good,” he said. “I’d been hoping you hadn’t lost your pen during the trip.”

“And where have you been?” she asked. She guided him into the parlor, and thought to make chocolate but offered instead the last of the cookies.

He coughed as they settled down in the parlor. “Europe,” he said vaguely, which made her raise an eyebrow.

“I’ve missed you, Teddy. I thought to write letters but I didn’t think you wanted to hear from me,” she admitted.

“I’ve missed you,” he admitted. “But I wasn’t ready to talk.”

In tandem, they said the name of their partner. Jo shook her head and snorted at the harmony. 

“I’m going to say here, Jo,” he said. She smiled at the idea. 

“In the boarding house?”

“Across the hallway. I’ve already talked to Mrs. Kirke about it,” he explained.

“We’ll be neighbors again,” she said.

“The best sort of neighbors,” he noted. “The sort that are engaged.”

She smiled. It was bold and brave of him to try again with her, but it wouldn’t be Laurie if he weren’t the bold sort. “And why should I say yes?”

“Because I know you like apples on a cold fall day, and I know that an afternoon left to writing is just what you need when you’re out of sorts. I know if we get married, we’ll learn how to keep a proper balance without losing sight of who we are. I’ll never betray you, Jo. I’ll never tie you down to me any more than you’ll tie me to you. We'll grow together instead of apart, in stuffy drawing rooms, our heads filled with drink.”

Togetherness. That was all he promised. Not afternoons baking bread or scrubbing floors, but real, true togetherness.

What could she do but say yes?


End file.
